Room to ride? Motorists, officials weigh in on traveling, parking in downtown New Phila

Sunday

Nov 27, 2016 at 9:12 AM

By Alex Knisely Times-Reporter staff writer

NEW PHILADELPHIA Does traveling through downtown New Philadelphia have its hardships?

Some say yes, citing bumpers of parked vehicles sticking out in the flow of traffic or the lack of ample parking spaces.

"I think it's horrible," New Philadelphia resident Heather Flinner said while standing outside of the Daily Grind Cafe on W. High Avenue. "I try to avoid this section as much as possible."

Flinner couldn't find a parking spot near the downtown coffee shop Tuesday morning, so she decided to park in a lot adjacent to the Quaker Cinema.

That choice could've provided some convenience when it came time to drive home because Flinner didn't have to inch her vehicle out into the flow of traffic as if she would have parked in one of the angled parking spaces downtown.

"Nobody wants to stop and let you out," she said about backing up. "(Drivers) only stop if they want your spot."

'Not much room'Within the past six months, there have been 13 accidents in the downtown area, according to the New Philadelphia Police Department. Those accidents include fender-benders and crashes caused by vehicles backing out into oncoming traffic.

Police Chief Mike Goodwin acknowledged there's a high volume of traffic coming through downtown, and said he's noticed there have been more vehicles traveling through the streets of East and West High avenues and North and South Broadway streets than in previous years.

Goodwin said even for himself backing out of a downtown parking space in a police cruiser SUV can be tricky. There's going to be some waiting for traffic to clear and a driver must slowly inch out of the spot while hoping other drivers are paying attention. He added that if a motorist is backing out and there's an accident, the driver of the vehicle backing out is at fault because he or she failed to yield to oncoming traffic that has the right-of-way.

"There's not much room (or) visibility," said Steven Beitzel, Jr., who was parked downtown recently.

Beitzel added motorists have to watch out for other vehicles and open doors while traveling through the streets.

When a vehicle is parked in an angled spot, there has to be 9 feet of space between the vehicle's bumper and the center line of the street, according to city law. That includes vehicles with hitches for boats or trailers.

According to information from the Service Director's Office, East and West High avenues and North and South Broadway streets through the downtown area are 35 feet wide with areas that are 60 feet wide.

An exception to parking ordinances, though, is made for larger, industrial vehicles. City law allows for large trucks or vans with extended cabs, for example, to take up the space of two parking spots so that the longer bumper doesn't jut out into the road.

"We'll see a lot of times pickup trucks pull up on the sidewalk," Goodwin said. "We write a lot of tickets for people parked up on the curb."

Lack of parking spots?Mayor Joel B. Day said a common complaint his office receives is that there are not enough parking spots downtown.

Day said he learned from the Police Department's former parking control officer that there is an adequate amount of parking places downtown, but what people want are open spots in front of the business they want to go into.

"It's a matter of perception," Day said.

Downtown New Philadelphia has a total of 162 parking spaces, according to the Service Director's Office. Those spaces are in the boundaries of N. Broadway and S. Broadway streets, from Fair Avenue NW to Front Avenue SW, and E. High Avenue and W. High Avenue from Second Street SE to Second Street SW.

The parking spaces total includes 134 angled, 17 parallel parking and 11 handicap.

Day said there's parking on S. Broadway that he believes is underutilized. There's also a public parking lot that is catty-corner to the Broadway Brewhouse in the 100 block of S. Broadway Street.

"We don't have a good sign there that says 'Downtown Parking'," Day said. "And that is something we will put up."

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